A chilling, exhilarating new thriller from the award-winning Candice Fox, described by the Sydney Morning Herald as 'an important new voice in crime fiction'. "I'm sure every day Eden looked in the mirror and wondered if she should kill me..."

If Detective Frank Bennett tries hard enough, he can sometimes forget that Eden Archer, his partner in the Homicide Department, is also a moonlighting serial killer . . .

Book Review:

Eden Archer, Australia’s answer to Dexter Morgan, and her damaged partner Frank Bennett are back at work in Fall, investigating a series of murders of women joggers. Underlying this investigation is another one by Frank’s lover (and former psychologist) Imogen, who solves cold cases in her spare time and is closing in on Eden’s true identity. There is plenty else going on in Fall, with Eden’s ex-crimelord father Hades having a cameo and a potential new recurring character added to the mix.

In some ways, Fall feels like the novel that Fox might have written as the follow up to her debut Hades. It features another serial killer, and in some respects follows the pattern of other procedurals of its type. But the continuing impact of events in her follow-up, Eden, the investigation into Eden’s past and Fox’s style lift Fall out of the usual serial killer chase genre.

With every novel, Fox is more in control of her craft. While her mix of first and third person narration in Hades sometimes felt forced, by this third outing the constant shifts of point of view happen effortlessly and serve to ratchet up the narrative tension. Particularly amusing and effective are the differences between Frank’s first-person view of the women around him and their perception of him.

Plenty of books of this type have two dimensional antagonists. But here the killer is given a rich, disturbing history and some twisted justification for her actions. This is serial killer point of view done well. But the killer is just one of the many damaged characters who anchor the plot. Every character has secrets, and each of the main characters is damaged. Fox explores the ways in which each character handles their pain.

Fox has improved with every book in this series and Archer and Bennett are two of the most complex, interesting characters in Australian crime fiction at the moment. And while it will be interesting to read the novel that she is co-writing with James Patterson, it will be interesting to see where she takes Archer and Bennett next.

If Detective Frank Bennett tries hard enough, he can sometimes forget that Eden Archer, his partner in the Homicide Department, is also a moonlighting serial killer . . .

Thankfully their latest case is proving a good distraction. Someone is angry at Sydney's beautiful people - and the results are anything but pretty. On the rain-soaked running tracks of Sydney's parks, a predator is lurking, and it's not long before night-time jogs become a race to stay alive.

Carmen and Nicolai failed to resuscitate their son, Tommy, after finding him floating in their backyard pond. When Inspector Skarre arrives on the scene, Carmen reports that Tommy, a healthy toddler with Down syndrome, wandered into the garden while Nicolai was working in the basement and she was cleaning the house. Skarre senses something is off with Carmen’s story and consults his trusted colleague, the famed Inspector Sejer. An autopsy reveals Tommy’s lungs to be full of soap.

Book Review:

The 11th Inspector Sejer novel from Karin Fossum, specialising again in the why of a crime. Why in this instance is a series of very big questions. Why did a young toddler end up dead in a pond near his house? Why did nobody think that secure fencing would be necessary for any child that age so close to water? Why is it particularly noteworthy that Tommy is a healthy boy, who happens to have Down's Syndrome? Why is his mother behaving so weirdly, and more to the point is she a spoilt princess or a bit odd? Why do Sejer and Skarre think there's something odd about this death and what can they do about that suspicion with very little evidence?

Fossum often tackles difficult subjects and this is not the first time she's put characters with Down's Syndrome in the forefront of consideration. Whilst she uses this as a way of exploring reactions and expectations it's not disrespectful, opportunistic or uninformed, but it is pointed and thought-provoking. Even more chillingly in THE DROWNED BOY as the parents of young Tommy, Carmen and Nicolai, are very young. The reader is left wondering if they are too young to be parents at all, let alone to a disabled child, or has age less to do with it than just being dysfunctional people. Certainly Carmen seems way too narcissistic to possibly care for anybody but herself. Nicolai on the other hand seems brittle, young, overwhelmed and despite trying to parent, ineffectual and ephemeral.

In contrast to this young couple, and her rather controlling, domineering father, Sejer is the epitome of calm, kind and thoughtful. Struggling with the need to address a health condition of his own, there's something about the reactions to Tommy's death that worries him from the start. In his normal manner he doesn't take those concerns up front to the possible suspects, instead gently digs away, prodding and searching for an explanation.

Readers who are passionately addicted to investigation and closure in their crime fiction may find Fossum's books tough reading. Because they look deep into the human psyche, they aren't about the how or even necessarily the who, although the truth is eventually revealed, as are some further shocks and sad outcomes. Not that the reveal is necessarily because of just good investigative techniques, but rather the way that people react to pressure and the spotlight.

Why would a young Down's Syndrome boy drown, naked in a pond near his home on a hot summer's day and how will his short life and that death affect those around him? There's no question that anybody is going to get away with anything in THE DROWNED BOY, but the why remains the focus, and all the more heart-rendering as a result.

In a city of elusive agendas, it's hard to find the truth. It's even harder to find what's right. A bootlegger's dream is rocked by an attempt to destroy his lucrative business. What begins as a curious evening snowballs into a night-time odyssey as Fontana searches for answers he never thought he'd have to find. The city is saturated with criminal and political extremism - is there anyone he can trust?

Drowning City is a compelling, Depression-era noir novel, where setting and style are just as much characters, by an astonishingly talented young author.

Book Review:

Set in Depression era America, DROWNING CITY is set on one night when life, business and the future explodes in Fontana's face. A bootlegger by trade, it's a business that has a limited lifespan with political mumblings about getting rid of Prohibition. Meaning what money there is to be made, has to be made right now. Making the need to resolve a massive rip off even more urgent. Although you wouldn't normally expect everything to be discovered, investigated and resolved in one night especially in the 1930s, when surveillance was people standing around in doorways, communication was talking face to face or land-line telephones, and messages required paper and not instantaneous texts.

Noir in styling, DROWNING CITY uses the setting, and the time period to generate what feels like spot on atmosphere. The dialogue reads as you'd expect - it's part wise-cracking, part out of the side of the mouth, staccato tough guy talk from start to finish. Combine that with a sense of place that puts you firmly in the mean streets of the big city; lurking in the dark and threatening little corners where the street lights don't shine; leaning on bars, or lounging on banquettes in the clubs and speakeasy's; meeting in rooms at the end of darkened corridors at the back of those selfsame clubs.

Fontana is an enigmatic character (as you'd expect), single-minded about the pursuit of the truth, despite the moral question over the nature of that truth. His firm belief that his cause is just and right isn't going to sit well with some readers. Needless to say his methodologies aren't that of polite society into the bargain.

The highlight of DROWNING CITY is the atmosphere and the way that this author has invoked a time, place and sensibility from the past. The downside of the book is a tendency for style to overtake substance. Whilst the pace of the action and the limited timeframe used to resolve the entire story might explain the short-changing of some aspects, somehow there was too much that felt too broad-brush, often too convenient, and ultimately unconvincing. The plot seemed frequently subsumed by the desire to set a scene, to invoke a feeling, in other words, it got drowned out by the atmosphere. Whilst this reader is going to come down on the side of homage, there's certainly the possibility that others may opt for pastiche.

Despite the misgivings, DROWNING CITY is, a brave and very interesting undertaking. Assured in some aspects, sketchy in others, it's definitely a novel that would be worth consideration by readers of noir or crime fiction in general who like to support a new author, trying their hand at a well established format.

David Kingsgrove is a man on a mission. An ordinary man - and an extraordinary mission. It is a mission that will turn him into someone he never thought he would be: the king of the road, the loner on the highway, the crusader for a sort of justice he has never before had to seek.

Book Review:

KING OF THE ROAD is Sydney based author Nigel Bartlett's debut novel. Gritty, complicated and fast-paced it takes the reader into the uncomfortable world of abduction of young boys and paedophile rings. From the moment that young Andrew disappears from David Kingsgrove's home there's a sinking sense of despair. Firstly because of the police's obsession with Kingsgrove as the only suspect, and secondly because a young boy going missing like that instantly makes you think the absolute worse.

With only one friend prepared to believe in him, Kingsgrove is in a no win position, especially when his own family seem to suspect the worse. Going on the run could possibly telegraph guilt to others, but it seems to be the only way to find Andrew most importantly, and clear his name in the process.

Needless to say, the subject matter in this novel is going to worry some readers, and whilst there's nothing explicit or overt, it's impossible not to know what it is that cohorts of men like this do. Not helped by the sorts of character's that Kingsgrove eventually uncovers. It's sobering to think that people like this could really exist. It's even more sobering to think that the systems that they use to organise and communicate are so cleverly done.

The action centres around David Kingsgrove, and because his search for Andrew is a combination of Facebook investigation, and following every lead no matter how minor, he has to be a believable character. Not just believable, it's possible to have enormous sympathy for this man. A loving uncle, who incidental to his care and concern for his nephew is a gay man, he's resourceful, fit, brave and very determined. It's testament to his believability that at no stage is the reader left wondering how he could possibly be discovering things the police don't seem to be able to see. He also provides a very good lesson on how to hide in full view for quite a while which was most illuminating. But the best part about Kingsgrove is that determination. In the face of personal danger, confronted by some awful human beings, he stays true to the task of finding Andrew.

There are twists and turns in the search for Andrew that are going to surprise, there are some really awful people to be uncovered and some surprises in store, even when you think there can't possibly be any more. Whilst there's much about KING OF THE ROAD that's flat out a wild, tense, fast paced ride, there's also plenty of touching moments, and some glimpses of good, and some strong characters. An unusual book in many ways, KING OF THE ROAD is well worth reading, even if the subject matter is a no go zone for you.

Review - RUN TO ME, Diane Hester

It's been two years since Shyler O'Neil's beloved son Jesse was killed - but his final moments are as vivid to her now as they were that dreadful day. Suffering from post-traumatic stress, and convinced she did not do enough to protect him, she retreats to an isolated cabin in the woods of northern Maine.

Book Review:

Written with the distinct feeling of a movie treatment RUN TO ME takes the story of a young boy in extreme danger, and combines that with a woman traumatised and stigmatised by the death of her own young boy. There's a feeling of inevitability to the coming together of those two characters, and their stand against the bad guys.

The threat to the boys (Zack is held with two other youngsters) is carefully crafted making it less confrontational, although the threat itself is clearly drawn out. The baddies are very bad in this book, and the contrast between them and the character of O'Neil is glaring - almost cinematic.

Less convincing is the idea of O'Neil's opportunity for "redemption". In order to accept that aspect, for a start it wouldn't hurt to not seeing it coming from a mile away, but all the way along it is hard to shake the feeling that she could have been unfairly treated.

There's nothing wrong with a thriller that sets up an expected plot trajectory, provided the reader has some connection with enough of the elements to want to go along for the ride. Perhaps it was the child at risk element, which felt manipulative, designed to trigger a reaction. Perhaps it was the woman on the edge, a child killer, and another designed reaction which was just a bit too much.

Perhaps it's simply a dose of overt manipulation fatigue - but RUN TO ME wasn't a ride that was easy to hitch a seat on. It was too hard to shake the feeling of observer, rather than participant.

Charlo Torp has problems. He's grieving for his late wife, he's lost his job, and gambling debts have alienated him from his teenage daughter. Desperate, his solution is to rob an elderly woman of her money and silverware. But Harriet Krohn fights back, and Charlo loses control.

Wracked with guilt, Charlo attempts to rebuild his life. But the police are catching up with him, and Inspector Konrad Sejer has never lost a case yet.

Book Review:

The preoccupation for Scandinavian crime fiction of many readers is sometimes questioned. One response is to get people to read Karin Fossum's Inspector Konrad Sejer series. Within the one series, Fossum is able to shift the perspective, analyse the reasons why, explore the outcomes and long-term effects of crime, and play with accepted perceptions of clear cut resolutions. In THE MURDER OF HARRIET KROHN, whilst still part of the Sejer series, she's tipped the perspective completely - this is not a whodunnit, or even necessarily a whydunnit, but a how do you live with what you've just done.

There's absolutely no doubt from the opening set up of this book who Charlo Torp is, what a self-inflicted mess he's made of his life, and what his solution to the problem is. It's quite a chilling portrayal. The matter-of-fact way in which Torp sets out to murder Harriet Krohn and his initial reactions post the crime.

It would be an easy thing to have him remain ambivalent, self-justifying. Comfortable that his decision is what was required to sort out his own life and his relationship with his daughter. Certainly post his crime, and as a result of the money and possessions he steals, his life takes a turn for the better. He's able to reconnect with his daughter, he can provide her with the one thing she longs for more than anything else. But somewhere in the middle of all that happy ever after there's something more than just the pressure he's feeling from Inspector Sejer's investigation.

The investigation does take a back seat in this book, but fans of crime fiction that's all about the "chase" would be doing themselves a disservice by missing THE MURDER HARRIET KROHN. This is a carefully laid out, conservatively presented, seeringly understated, big dose of what goes around, comes around. The frightening thing is how blithely ignorant Torp is of what's happening, how his choices impact other people, and what he could have done differently. Until it's way too late.

For on the skeleton's finger is a beautiful emerald ring that once belonged to Lucrezia Borgia, the most powerful - and most evil - woman of the Renaissance.

Hours later the skeleton has vanished and one man is dead.

For DCI Jack Pendragon - newly transferred from Oxford to Brick Lane - it's a first case he could have done without. And with two more gruesome deaths in quick succession, it's clear there's a killer out there with a deadly compulsion.

A killer drawing his murderous inspiration from a 15th-century family whose cruelty and depravity knew no limits.